We had a great lunch and went on a tour of the Georgia Tech library, focusing on the commons areas. They have done some really innovative stuff here from completely flexible space to power running in the ceilings to light washes on the walls. After lunch and tours we heard from the University of Rochester:
Case Study #2: Translating User Studies into Everyday Services and Spaces
Katie Clark, University of Rochester
• Talked about their research study on undergraduate students
• Gave some demographics, Rochester looks a lot like WFU
• Gave background of user studies: first was a grant funded one to study faculty, then hired Nancy Foster as anthropologist and studied undergraduates, now studying graduate students
• Go into workplace and watch people work/talk with them about it: applying ethnographic and anthropological techniques to better understand our campus communities
• Methodologies: photo survey, mapping diaries, design workshops, retrospective interviews, dorm visits (late night), student union
• Didn’t start with a problem to fix or software they wanted to design. Just about observation.
• Learned early to toss out assumptions, that not all students are the same, and that the same students don’t always need the same space. Some love laptops, others need quiet places to spread out papers.
• Showed lots of structure in the day, little time for formal meals, studying very late at night
• Best way to get people to do the focus group: big sign on reference desk that said $5, pizza, 20 minutes, and an arrow
• Students looking for flexibility, comfort, tech and tools that are integrated, staff support
• Students had no distinction between reference, circulation, reserve. They want someone who can reserve rooms, check out books, troubleshoot, and make a latte.
• When asked students to make library website, integrated fun and work (as they tend to do in regular life)
• The students almost never knew the name of the person who taught a recent BI class, and almost never knew they were a librarian (or what that means)
• Call parents about their academic work, emailing drafts, etc, in addition to traditional ways that students connect to their parents.
• Found that the residence halls are no place to study. It’s loud, and people running around. Did see differences between first and second year dorms.
• When running focus groups: always gave them food, sometimes gave them money, been careful when using artifacts students created, gotten permission, etc
• Perception is that librarians can help you find print materials.
• Laptops: high levels of laptop ownership, don’t carry, too heavy, want lockers to store them, use public computing all day long (good to find out, had been planning to get rid of them before this finding)
• “Helicopter” parents: research & writing assistance, talk with parents at all times of day (11pm), so librarians paired with parents, breakfast for the parents during orientation with one message: every class has a librarian
• Renovation: incorporates a lot of these principles
• Design exercises were not about preferences, it was about learning what the library could do to facilitate their work.
• Now doing a study on graduate students to design software for IR: grant funded, across disciplines, almost all PhD, all had to be writing, around the same age, interview wherever and whenever they work
• They film interviews, then screen them with a group. Two rules: confidential, and always make comments in a positive light (no teasing)
The project was useful, made their work relevant, and it was really, really fun.
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